A Prologue: Paint My Love
by cintapopia
Summary: Rachel and Finn had finally bought their first apartment. Set as a prologue story before my other fan-fiction "More Than Words". This story can be enjoyed by itself or together :-
1. Chapter 1: New York, New York

_Hi everyone! I'm back again with another story :-) It is obviously a Finchel fanfic - need I say more?_

_This story is set as a prologue to 'More Than Words'. I had this backstory in my mind the whole time I was writing 'More Than Words'._

_I really hope you enjoyed it! Reviews/comments/feedbacks/critics/corrections are welcome!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Glee and I do not live in New York City *sigh*_

* * *

It was an interesting afternoon in the New York City apartment.

It had two bedrooms and one bathroom; wooden floors with white walls and ceilings – fully renovated, by the way. White chunky frames adorned the windows and there were glass walls in the corner of the main bedroom. Rachel had described this as the American classic look.

The view? Pretty damn spectacular. It's like a piece of Europe in the busyness of New York City. Finn and Rachel always wanted to go there, so this is like having a little taste and see before it actually happened. What Finn loved the most was having the Washington Square Park at the heart of the neighborhood. He and Rachel loved to go for long walks along the park with their seven-months old Labrador, Lima.

Rachel loved the fact that this district was still home to many Broadway theatres and music club. They had sight some celebrities in the area and usually they would leave Rachel completely star-strucked. Finn didn't know who's who, unless if they had been starring in his favorite action movies, like, Black Hawk Down or something.

But what they both loved the most about this apartment was not the district, or the park, nor the numerous amounts of celebrity sightings. It was their first apartment. Bought, not rented. They couldn't believe that this apartment was available at the price that they bought it for. He and Rachel had finally collected enough earnings to support a mortgage.

At this point of time, it was still empty. They had just got the keys last week from their broker. They hadn't had the time to move their furniture from the rented apartment. Kurt and Mercedes said that they would help – but Finn doubted that Kurt would be of any help. He would argue that his hands were too delicate to lift heavy boxes, let alone a couch. He would enjoy helping the couple decorate the place though.

Yes, Finn loved the view from the apartment. But his favorite view was standing in the kitchen, with her rubber gloves and Ajax, humming to 'My Favorite Things' from The Sound of Music. She had watched that movie over fifty times, and being the good boyfriend that he was, he too had accompanied her watching it over twenty times probably. He had to admit though, he enjoyed it and Julie Andrews was kind of cute back then.

They had already spent two consecutive days cleaning up the place and making sure that there were no leakage and other things to be fixed. It was already noon when they both realised that they wanted to paint the future wall in another color. They finally settled for blue.

Rachel specifically asked him to buy tiffany blue paint. He didn't even know what the heck did she mean by it. To him it's only dark blue or light blue. A trip to the warehouse store to buy paint proved him wrong; there were too many different blues to choose from! Thank goodness he brought a picture of the color and the shop assistant had been helping him tremendously. That guy _saved his ass._

Finn's arms was getting tired from all the painting that he did, so he decided to take a little break. He sneaked up behind his girlfriend and wrapped her around the waist, kissing her on the top of her head. He breathed the floral scent of her hair, totally intoxicated.

"Why hello there, stranger," she looked up at him and smiled.

She turned her face to glance over the future wall and looked back at his boyfriend with a puzzled look on her face.

"Finn?"

"Hmm?", his face still buried in her hair. God, she smelled good.

"You barely painted a quarter of the wall. You started about two hours ago. We will never get it done in time at the snail-like pace you are working on," she faced him and shot him a frustrated look. The cutest wrinkles would appear between her eyebrows whenever she did that; he would never tell her that though, she would totally freaked out.

"I'm tired. I need a break, babe. My arms are killing me," he flashed his trademark lopsided grin, knowing that she could never get angry with him whenever he smiled her favorite smile.

"Oh, no! Don't you play that card on me, Finn Hudson. I'm not going to fall for it this time even if I think that your smile and puppy eyes are the most adorable thing in the whole wide world," Rachel pointed her finger and waved it, just like what Mercedes did whenever she disliked something.

"But, I'm hungry!"

"We just had our lunch break half an hour ago," she stated firmly.

Rachel's phone rang. She saw whom it was from and took it. _Phew, saved by the bell._

"Mr Laurent wanted me at the theatre in ten minutes," she said as soon as she ended the call.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes – he just needed me to review this one scene with the other cast because apparently we weren't showing enough emotions at the practice last Wednesday," she sighed. He knew she didn't want to go, but she didn't have any choice even if today was her day off. The opening night for her Broadway play was in two weeks and everyone were under pressure.

"I'm sorry I have to leave. One scene. I promise," she grabbed her handbag and her keys.

"It's okay, Rach. I'll be fine,"

"I love you for this, Finn Hudson," she smiled and kissed him tenderly.

"I know. I love you too," they leaned their foreheads against each other for a second before Rachel headed towards the front door.

"There are some leftover chinese food on the kitchen bench if you're really hungry," she stumbled trying to wear her shoes.

"Finn?"

"Yep?"

"You _better_ be finished painting those walls when I got back," she gave him a death stare before she closed the door. _Oh boy._

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2: Drama, Drama, Drama

_Hello gleeks!_

_So, I'm back with the second chapter :-) To be honest, I kinda think that I might have poured the parmesan cheese a little bit too much for this story._

_Apologies if you're kinda sick to your stomach with all the finchel fluffiness, cutesy, light-hearted stories. I can't help it - anything Finchel = pure love. I might actually try to take on an angst/romance story a bit later, but since I'm pretty new at this - baby steps and start with a familiar territory._

_Anyway - when you reached the end of this chapter, you might think that I will get Finn to do what he did on my last story, but you might be proven wrong. hehe._

_Reviews/comments/feedbacks/critics/corrections are always welcome in my glee bubble. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work and support me nevertheless. I am beyond blessed :-) I hope you enjoy reading the story so far! _

_Til next time..._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything Glee-related. Except for this story and ideas in my head. _

* * *

Finn sat himself on the wooden floor, while eating the leftover noodles from lunch. He knew that he should be painting right about now, but he had other things in his mind that he needed to er... think about.

Well, there was actually just _one_ thing on his mind. He wasn't good at multitasking - if that's the correct word for it.

That 'thing' was the black velvet box he had been hiding since three weeks ago. It was now in his pocket.

Inside it, was a ring; _the_ ring.

He had been courting Rachel for about six years, four months and twelve days (_but who's counting?)_. They had endured high school, long distance relationship in college, and other problems couples might have. He had willingly moved to New York to be with her straight after he graduated from Ohio State. Thankfully, he was offered the quarterback position with the New York Giants shortly after.

He had known _for sure_ that she, Rachel Barbara Berry, was his one and only.

It had neverbeen hard with Rachel. He was always himself and she was too. It was so natural and easy. Like, maybe they were destined to meet seven years ago in the halls of William McKinley High School. He felt like he was destined to join Glee Club.

He had to thank whoever it was who put that Chronic Lady in his locker.

Their chemistry was undeniable. It was always intense, unbreakable. They hadn't needed to try. It was just always there – thick. Like you could almost cut it with a knife. It was there when he first sang 'Don't Stop Believing' with her. It was there when they sang 'Faithfully' at Regionals. It was there on their first date, their one-hundredth date, and their millionth date. It was there when they won Nationals for two consecutive years. It was there in her eyes and her smile. It was _most definitely_ there when they made love.

It had always been so easy with Rachel. But if it was - why is it _so_ hard right now, to pop the question he had wanted to ask her?

It was probably Rachel's penchant for drama and grand gestures.

It was in her 'I'm Sorry' cookies, her metaphorical gold star after her name _(which, by the way, she still did until today),_ her myspace videos, and many more.

...

Rachel was looking at her friends' facebook profile about two weeks ago. Lima was sleeping just on the foot of their bed. They were just about to get ready for bed, when she let out a loud squeal.

"Whoa, what's with all the screaming, missy?" he popped out of the bathroom with his favorite white undershirt and plaid pyjama bottom, still holding his toothbrush. Lima had woken up from its peaceful slumber and stared at Rachel, obviously shocked by the sudden eruption of emotion.

"Look! Sarah and Bill just got engaged!", she pointed at the screen in front of her.

"Good for them," Honestly, Finn wasn't paying enough attention to what she told him. He was busy focusing on Rachel, wearing _only_ his old Ohio State jersey.

"Finn, look at this! He proposed on a billboard in the middle of Times Square!", she flicked through the pictures on Sarah's page. An occasional ooh-s and aah-s escaped her lips. Finn was just nodding in disinterest.

"Oh my god, there's a video of it too!" she clicked on the link and watched it intently. Apparently, Bill had a friend to record the whole thing. Bill brought Sarah to Times Square just in time for the moving billboard to display his proposal, and then he got down on one knee and did it. The crowd were cheering as Sarah said 'yes' with tears in her eyes.

Before Bill and Sarah, there were Hannah and George who got engaged after he popped the question on a flying-banner-aeroplane thing. And then there were Ellen and Jack at the top of the Empire State Building. The icing on the cake was Mr Schuester's proposal to Miss Pillsbury; he serenaded her in a fancy restaurant, complete with a string quartet, before he asked her hand in marriage.

He hated himself a little for thinking this – but he always thought those were a bit too… _cheesy,_ for his liking.

Finn wasn't saying that it wasn't nice and sweet, but it just wasn't who he is. He wanted it to be private – just him and Rachel. Like they were in their own personal bubble. Like they're the only two people on this whole planet.

"What a good way to be proposed to," she finally closed the page and shut her Macbook off. She patted Lima, and the Labrador dosed back off to its sleep, yawning a little before it closed its eyes. "No girl could say no, to that!"

"Really? You would like that kind of proposal?"

"Well, it is kind of every girl's dream. So, who wouldn't?" she said as she climbed on their bed, shutting off her side of the bedside table light.

Finn shrugged and went back to the bathroom to finish what he was doing. _He was so screwed._

_..._

Finn peeled himself off the floor, putting the empty takeaway container in the bin. He wondered how long he had been slumping; it was probably an hour or two. He looked at the clock – it was a little after four in the afternoon. He had better continue what he was supposed to do or Rachel would give him hell later.

He put on his iPod and started continuing his painting but his mind wandered of. _How should he ask Rachel to marry him?_ Everything seemed to be already taken. The Empire State Building, the serenading, the billboard. He didn't want to be a copycat! He did try to Google it, but found absolutely nothing.

He was never described as 'dramatic'. That was always Rachel. The only dramatic thing he did was probably singing 'Jessie's Girl' to Rachel at Glee Club; when she was still with that Jesse St Jackass dude. Even the way he told her he loved her for the first time was really simple and straight to the point. He really thought that grand gestures were a tad over-rated, but if that what Rachel loved _(and maybe expected)_, he would try his best to do it.

He could always go for the candles and rose petals – but then it was too predictable, too generic. He needed to catch her off-guard; to leave her breathless. And she always had the cutest expression on her face when she's pleasantly surprised.

Well, he could call Kurt and asked for his help - but he really didn't want anyone else to know yet, and that kid was probably as dramatic as his girlfriend. He wanted to keep this between Rachel and himself first, before she said yes.

_She would say yes, wouldn't she? Oh please make her say yes._

Finn stretched a little – who would've thought that painting walls could be so exhausting? He didn't even covered half of the wall. He would be in so much trouble later. _Damn it._

That was when his iPod suddenly played a song. A song so fitting to what he was looking for. It was a 90s rock band called Michael Learns To Rock, one of his favorites actually; and today they were his inspiration.

If this was a cartoon – this would be one of the moments where a light bulb would light up on the top of his head.

He just got a bloody brilliant idea.

***TBC***


	3. Chapter 3: Speechless

_Hello my fellow gleeks!_

_So, here's the last chapter of this story. I kinda feel I wasn't giving my best effort for this one (not that the first one was good anyway). I think it was kind of 'blah' to begin with, and my other responsibilities/schedules didn't really help me to pour my heart and soul to write this. I'm so sorry if any of you are disappointed - I'm kinda disappointed in myself as well. Maybe the story was too forced. Hmmm... I don't know what else to think._

_I'm currently working on another finchel story - however, it's not going to have any connection to this story or the previous one. I'm still in my early stage of research and stuff, so hopefully I'll be able to post something really soon - but I doubt it though as I'm going to be extremely occupied with other stuff these next few weeks *sigh*.There are apparently other responsibilities outside my glee bubble; but I promise I'll try my best to post at least two chapters a week :-)_

_Thank you again for everyone who took time to read this - and special thanks for those who reviewed :-) You don't know how much that means to me!_

_Reviews/feedback/comments/critics/corrections are more than welcome - thank you again for having me here!_

_Til the next one :-)_

_Disclaimer: Sadly, I still don't own Glee. My birthday's coming up soon though - maybe if I ask Ryan Murphy for a share of Glee as a present he would give it to me? Just maybe. _

* * *

"Finn?" Rachel called out as she opened the front door. It was already six in the afternoon and the sky had gone a little bit darker.

He dashed to the front door and greeted her with a hug and a kiss.

"Thank you for the warm welcome, boyfriend!" she giggled as he broke off the kiss. "I'm sorry I'm late, it went longer than I expected. I brought pizza for dinner,"

"Great, I'm starving!"

"Have you finished painting the wall?"

"Well… Not exactly," he prepared himself for what was coming.

"_Finn!_ We really didn't have time! You know that we will start moving the furniture tomorrow and we need to finish painting today. _Today,_ Finn Hudson! I don't want our furniture to be covered in paint residues. Especially the white couch!" she started going on and on like she always did when she's frustrated, waving her hands all over the place.

"Rach, can you please calm down? Hear me out,"

"I'm serious, Finn. You have to go to your football practice after tomorrow and I have to go to the theatre. We both know _we can't afford_ to take another time off from work now that we have mortgage to pay!" she slammed the pizza box on the kitchen counter.

"Rach,?" he took her hands in his, stroking her knuckles. "Please? Let me finish,"

Her expression softened a bit and she sighed. He gently led her to a spot facing the wall. He knew she was counting one to ten inside her head, a method that she always use to calm down.

"Stay here,"

Finn walked over to the white fabric, and in swift movement, uncovered what's underneath. Rachel felt like a subway had hit her.

"Finn…"

It wasn't the Monalisa or Andy Warhol's work. Finn wasn't much of an artist at all; his drawings were comparable to those of middle school kids'. But, this was a masterpiece, nevertheless.

Written in a simple block letter, in tiffany blue paint on their half-painted wall, were two words:

"Marry me?"

The next thing Rachel knew was Finn kneeling on one knee before her.

"Rach," she held her breath, tears were starting to dwell up in her beautiful brown eyes. She finally understood what was going on.

"I know this probably wasn't the grand proposal you expected – I tried, but to be honest, it wasn't my style. I want you to know that it doesn't mean that I love you less – or make this moment any less special for us. I just want it to be personal. Just me and you,"

There was only one time that Finn had successfully made Rachel speechless – it was the time when he told her he loved her for the first time. Today, he succeeded again.

"I love you, very much. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you," He took out a small box, and inside the box was a beautiful white gold ring, with a small diamond shaped into a star. A tear escaped Rachel's eyes. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"Rachel Barbara Berry, will you marry me?"

Rachel tried to form the word 'yes' but she couldn't. There was nothing coming out of her mouth. The only thing she could do was nod ferociously as she kneeled down to hug Finn.

"Is that a yes?" he asked, brushing his hand through her long dark locks. He couldn't hide his smile.

Rachel nodded again as she finally able to form a word.

"Yes…" she whispered in his ears.

Finn picked her up so that she sat on top of him. He pulled out the ring from its shell and slipped it on Rachel's delicate finger. He wiped the tears from her cheeks and cupped them with his hands.

"Thank you for saying yes,"

"I love you," as she kissed him. The rest is history.

...

Rachel and Finn sprawled across the wooden floor. Both of their eyes closed. She had her head on his shoulder; her arms wrapped him around his chest. They hadn't said anything to each other for thirty minutes. All that they could hear was the street and the cars, and contented sighs from each other.

"Finn," she lifted her head up so that she could face him.

"Hmm?" he replied, his eyes were still closed.

"I just want you to know that I don't need a grand proposal from you. I never wanted one,"

Finn opened his eyes and looked into Rachel's face.

"I thought you always wanted one. You said so yourself after that whole Sarah and Bill public proposal thing. I asked you whether you would love that and you told me - who wouldn't want those kind of thing,"

"I said it was probably every girl's dream. I was just stating the matter-of-fact, silly," she pinched his nose a little. "I'm not 'every girl', Finn. I know that it was never your style. I never wanted a public proposal. This is perfect. Just you and me," she rested her head on his chest, still facing him.

"I'm glad you think that way," he smiled, stroking her hair.

"I'm glad you asked me to marry you,"

"I'm _really_ glad you said yes! It would've really sucked if you didn't," he chuckled.

She played with the ring on her finger, "Do you like the ring?"

"It's perfect. I love it. Thank you so much," she leaned forward to kiss him.

"Come on, I need to finish painting this wall and then we can go home. We had to pick up Lima from Mercedes and Kurt's," peeling him and his now fiancée from the floor.

"We are home, Finn" she smiled, wrapping her arms on his waist and stared on the 'painting' that Finn had done.

"Hang on, I have to take a picture of this before you covered the whole wall in tiffany blue. So I would have something to remember by," she suddenly let go of his hold and walked to the kitchen counter.

She snapped the painting with her mobile phone as she grinned widely. "Not that I'm going to post it on facebook or anything – I know it's a personal moment between you and me," she mumbled to herself.

"You can post that in your facebook page if you want to,"

"Really?"

"Well, this is probably the most dramatic I have been and I don't want it to go to waste. Let's make some people jealous, shall we? Let the world see!" he grinned back. Her eyes lit up and she squealed like the little Rachel Berry who just won her first tap-dancing competition.

_How could he say no to that face?_

In a matter of second, Rachel was busy posting the picture on her facebook page in full concentration. Finn smiled. He really didn't mind, as cheesy at it might look or sound. Her penchant for drama had definitely rubbed on him a little.

_**FIN**_


End file.
